2023 - The good, the bad, and the ugly

How do people create the best new year resolutions?

Lanike’s self-portrait

In my adult years, I have never been one of those people who wrote down their yearly goals, and I want that to change in 2024. Not writing out your goals will not allow you to take stock of your experiences for the year and make changes and improvements where needed. Although I did not write out my goals, I know that one of them involved starting a newsletter. It’s currently the 14th of December, 2023 and I am sitting in my bed typing out the first newsletter post I’d consider official and share publicly.

There are two major reasons I have not picked this up earlier this year. The first reason is that I consider the newsletter content field as saturated and I believe that the world has moved on from reading to watching videos on social media. The second reason is my inherent laziness. Motivation is difficult for me, especially intrinsically. I enjoy writing so much; it would be my occupation and life’s purpose if I never had to worry about money, so I have found myself back here. As a person who loves writing, I love reading too. I enjoy reading, so I have many newsletters that I look forward to and read religiously. Examples are Toyosi Adebusuyi’s substack, Osas Irianele’s substack, Hauwa Lawal’s substack, and Favour Ogazi’s substack among others.

In recent times, my thought patterns about starting a newsletter have changed because I figured out that if I enjoy reading newsletters so much, then there have to be others like me! So I can write for them and they would still matter to me. Reading can never go out of style (if I say so). Also, I am taking my career growth in marketing very seriously inevitably in 2024, so if I will have to build my audience, why not start now? This means I have to get rid of my laziness, set goals that I must commit to, and also find ways to deal with my frequent writer’s block. I would have committed to write weekly, but let me first get this post out of the way at least. One thing that I have firmly established in my mind is that I have to keep writing; on the days that I do not feel like it, on the days that my post feels watery, on overemotional days, and even if it’s just a paragraph. Growth doesn’t come easy.

Today, I will recount the notable experiences that 2023 had for me so far. To be honest, I have not had many ugly experiences, but there’s been a handful of great ones.

1. I had a change of job this year. I used to work as a digital marketer at my former job and it was stimulating, but I had to quit after eight months into it. I had started as a news writer in the same company for three months before the start of my eight-month digital marketing period. I had to quit because I decided it was time and I also had some ugly experiences with my manager who was the team lead for only three months. I had other lucrative outlets to focus on so I quit. I currently work as a social media manager for a fashion house and I LOVE everything about my job as a creative myself.

2. I made the highest money from my fashion design business so far. I started making clothes when I was 13. I never stopped and I have had to unlearn and relearn severally over the years. I currently run my business while trying to build my career. It has not been easy but I would choose this life again if I had to. I love making beautiful outfits for women and will do it for as long as I can. This year, I balanced my accounts and realized that I have enjoyed the most referrals and made the most profits from my business in 2023.

3. I gained clarity on my career path. I am a multipotentialite and it makes it difficult for me to stick to a career path. About a month ago, I started a mentorship journey that has helped me to sort out my confusion concerning a career path. I am glad that it happened as a sort of eleventh-hour thing for me in 2023. Working on being a growth marketer will set the tone for a lot of my activities next year. It’s the first time I will be accountable for my career growth to someone and that is a big deal to me. I do not want to mess this opportunity up.

4. I fell in love. Scratch that. I did not fall in love, I walked into love. I am being loved like never before and I do not mean this in a cliche manner. I found my person this year, and we are both so sure of each other. He loves me so much that I lack words to explain, even though I can feel it deeply. If I attempt to explain, the words garble over in my head and I can’t seem to think coherently enough to speak or type them out correctly. I am not overwhelmed, I am being delightfully caressed by a slow and easy love. It feels like lying on my back in cool clear shallow water the shade of lapis lazuli on a hot afternoon; the one where the water laps slowly at my sides. It feels so refreshing.

5. I felt like shit about a few months before I quit my job. It was the first time I experienced work anxiety. My line manager was so mean to me that I started making mistakes that I otherwise wouldn't made which in turn got me into trouble. This went on for over a month before I quit. Quitting was one of the best decisions I made this year, it allowed me to find myself and draw strength from within myself. I am also glad that I spoke with my employer about it and he addressed it in the kindest way possible. I am forever grateful for that.

6. My walk with God was very squiggly. I had the least time with God cumulatively this year and even though I am picking up, there is not enough time to compensate for the lost time. But it’s not a competition and I am not hard on myself. One thing that is certain for me is that God is ever with me and I only have to trust him and allow him to carry me. My relationship with him started to get better when I yielded to the Holy Spirit and stopped doing my spiritual activities with my strength. He has been carrying me and I am learning to trust him in this relationship as I put one unhurried foot after the other.

Overall, what am I expecting from 2024?

I know the answer to this in scattered pieces. This is why I will be joining the squad of “New Year resolutions” people for 2024. I don’t mean that literally, but I will plan the new year with all I have got. I can feel it in my spirit that it will be an important and pivotal year to the years ahead and I cannot wait to experience it.

I will not be publishing any other post till the first of January 2024, so cheers to a beautiful year ahead.